"All right, Zygote!" All Might bellowed as he strode into the classroom. It was the day after The Lopping, and many of the hero students only had one thing on their minds and on their tongues.
Where was Katsuki? Wasn't he healed? And was Dwei—no, Deku—arrested and thrown into Tartarus? Nevertheless, they all wisely shut up.
All Might may not be Aizawa Sensei, but... who, in their right mind, would go against the order of All Might?
Villains and idiots, that's who.
"After yesterday's event, Principal Nedzu elected to terminate Aizawa Shouta's teaching contract under unsafe teaching methods. It was a long-overdue action on his part, and he himself will face sanction. He shall remain as a... stop gap until the new teachers arrive in eight days." The number one hero said as he forestalled whatever would come after the monumental gasp that coursed his class. "Mineta Minoru! You are now under probation for disturbing conduct and sexual harassment toward all the girls in our class. If I hear another peep about you, I will personally kick you out of class before you can say Idaho. Is that clear?" The massive man said this as he glared down at the other problematic student in his class, who frantically nodded as if his life depended on it.
"Ladies, if this... boy ever says or does anything—and I do mean anything that disturbs you in any way, whether it is in a sexual matter or otherwise, Then you are to come to me. Do not abuse this privilege, but do not play the martyr; there isnothing heroic about enduring abuses of any kind. The same applies to all of you young men here. But do not use the same privilege for harming others; youwon't like the result."
A meek chorus of 'yes, sensei' resounded through the class. Most girls looked relieved, while Mineta looked to be on the cusp of fainting.
All Might took a deep breath in, ignoring the rattle of his one 'good' lung. (Fuck Malboros, why did he have to indulge?)
"As for what happened to Dwei-san and Bakugou-san, under law 86 on berserking quirk type charters, berserkers are not held accountable for the harm they caused when under the influence of their quirk if it can be proven that he was not in conscious control of his actions." He explained as he turned toward the electronic blackboard, writing the number of the law, the section, and bringing up different articles on this matter. "While we all thought Dwei-san to be a quirkless mutant, it has been proven that it was not the case."
He turned to face his students; the next topic would either make it or break it for Izuku... for Daksha.
He knew most of the information had to get out, for there should be no mystery with this class.
Daksha had agreed, and wh
"Now, for all of your information, Bakugo Katsuki is right about Dwei Daksha's identity as Midoriya Izuku, a quirky student of Aldera High." In the back, Tokoyami gasped dramatically, and a few others, those who had more morbid fascination, sat straighter.
'So... those dwellers know... Let's see if their mastery of the dark web can be cultivated.'
"So, you see." All Might started dramatically. "Ten months ago, I met a quirkless young man who asked me a question after I saved him from a villain: if he could be a hero without a quirk." giggles, sneers, and eye rolls filled the classroom, and Toshinori took notes of those with the worst reaction, ready to give them all the wake-up calls of a lifetime. Once again, the Dark Web Dweller looked more invested. Not with morbid fascination, but more like their own private investigation was heading someplace nobody would have ever guessed.
As for the rest...
He may not be Aizawa, but he still had the power to end all of those kids' careers if they lacked the most vital ingredient of all heroes: kindness to the most unfortunate and empathy for their plight, but he was smart enough not to fall for blatant sob stories and not to feed the rabid raccoons.
No matter how sad and pathetic they were.
"Obviously, I told him it wouldn't be possible." All might said as he laid his bait and waited. "A quirkless person can't be a hero; it would be better to be a police officer, a doctor, or those types of things."
Looking back, it truly was a rather cruel thing to say, especially in Japan. There was one worst place for the quirkless: a few remote villages in Indonesia and the states. But Japan was still, sadly, up there.
"This young boy... The last I heard of him was how his body had disappeared, leaving behind a mess of blood and brain matter on the backstreet behind a tall building in Musutafu. and I had been one of the last to see him alive."
He let his gaze linger on every single student, taking in their reaction.
"Good Riddance." Todoroki said, and it didn't surprise the number one hero at all.
"Good riddance… why? For existing? For being alive?" All Might asked, his blazing gaze never leaving Enji's youngest. "Tell me all, who controls what quirks we receive?" he asked, and let none of those hard-thinking Zygotes say another word, unwilling to expel a class with such potential without trying to teach them right. "Todoroki-San, you will write a five-page essay,quotingyour sources, about the difference between quirk individuals and quirkless. I want it done on my desk in two days. One day for research, and one day for writing it. Am I clear?"
The bi-haired teen had no reaction, keeping eye contact with the number one, his fist clenched until his knuckles went white.
Worrisome, for if Todoroki-san had this view, then was Enji's any better?
"Midoriya Izuku, that was his name." Toshinori resumed as he showed the last photo of the boy who changed his life. It wasn't hard to feel the tears in his eyes, despite knowing that Izuku was still alive as Daksha. Still, Izuku's innocence and bright eyes had gotten lost that day. "Bullied, abused, and neglected by all because he'd lost the genetic lottery. Something that's sadly common in our quirked society. And despite it all, instead of turning to villainy, or even vigilantism, or committing suicide even before he'd reached his second digit, this young boy never stopped dreaming to be a hero; he never stopped fighting. If he saw an injustice, he would do everything in his power to stop it. If another child was bullied, Izuku would put himself between the attacker and the victim, taking all the hits. He was malnourished due to his bullies damaging his stomach and trashing his lunch every single day, and he wasn't old enough to attend gyms. Because he had no quirk, nobody was willing to teach him how to fight back, not that he would be accepted or that his mother would agree to it. Like everyone his age, he loved heroes and idolized me, like all of you."
All Might could see the class now looking fidgety and uncomfortable.
It was one thing to hear that a quirkless person had died, but it was another to hear that a person like them, with the same age and aspirations, had given up on their lives.
Even Todoroki was trying to evade it.
He couldn't have that.
All Might slapped his desk, shocking everyone back to attention.
"He was one of my fans, knew everything about me, and absolutely loved quirks. For Midoriya Izuku, no quirks were bad, and all had heroic application. He was a thinker, a visionary, with a dream bigger than him.
"On the day of his suicide, I saw him save Bakugou Katsuki from a sewer sludge villain, the same villain that had almost killed him a mere two hours prior.
"Most civilians would run, and plenty more would experience PTSD and freeze on sight, but not Izuku."
No, not Daksha, the little hero that could.
"Izuku, when he noticed that none of the heroes at the scene were even attempting to save young Bakugo, jumped into action and, without a quirk, managed to give his bully enough breath and me enough inspiration to get involved.
"You see, kids. Being a hero is a fucking dangerous job." All Might skillfully ignored Iida's indignant gasp. "About a decade ago... I got severely injured by a villain I hope is dead and rotting in hell." He still had nightmares about this man. "I can't keep fighting crimes and villains for more than three hours before I have to stop. But… that's a story for another time."
"I was in my post-heroic state when Izuku rushed in to try and save Bakugou-san, risking his life in front of the same villain that almost killed him the first time around. Now, can one of you tell me what you think after that? Remember, Midoriya Izuku is a scrawny, underfed, awkward teenager who just happens to be quirkless."
The whole class remained silent as the number one hero could see and hear the cogs turning.
'Good, let them use their brains for once.'
"He managed to buy Bakugo-san some precious seconds, some precious air, despite knowing he would not get out; he would not succeed. But he *had* to try."
This was something, Izuku. Daksha had told him this morning before school.
He knew he would not make it, but hehad to try; he had to try to save Kacchan; he had to try to make his life meaningful in one way—to be a hero—even if it was just this once.
The Boy had admitted that he was often warring with intrusive thoughts, and those had gotten louder after All Might's rather nasty destruction of his comfort dream.
But at this time, Izuku considered that he had nothing else to lose.
'He would've been a perfect candidate.'
Well, too late now.
"Now, this gave me enough time to get my head out of my ass and save the day... Believe me, kids, if not for Midoriya Izuku, there'd be two dead kids in my conscience."
Uraraka Ochako raised her hand. "But, All Might, if Izuku played a hero, why wasn't he arrested?"
"Quirkless law bullshit." Was the short answer. "As long as you don't use a quirk to apprehend a villain, then you are not considered a vigilante, which, by the way, was never made an official law. The HPSC made some rumors online and hired people on fake news websites to make all of the sheep believe that they abolished the Good Samaritan law that dictates that if one is to witness a crime and he has the ability to intervene, then he can perform what we call a citizen arrest with little to no repercussion, no matter if the arrest is legal or not. It is still legal, but the police and heroes will still treat you as if you committed a crime. And no lawyers will save you."
"But… that's… that's not legal." Yoyorozu Momo whispered, disturbed by what she had heard.
"Welcome to heroism, Zygots. Nobody said it was a clean business, not those who know the truth." Yagi closed the topic. "The heroes at the scene didn't even let Midoriya-san get checked over by the paramedic since everyone was fawning over the victim. I'm not even sure Bakugo-san got the right treatment. But I do know that he ran after Izuku after blowing up in the paramedic's face. but was found the next street over, collapsed from a septic shock, and no, he didn't see Midoriya either. The next morning, I was called to investigate the bloody disappearance of a quirkless boy's body."
"But before you start making your conspiracy theory, Izuku did not die. His demise activated his dorment quirk factor, Crisis Mode, the touted heroic second wind."
It was a complete lie. Shuniya-Hara Das had been at the scene; hell, he had been the one to witness Izuku's death as his body hit the pavement. And he. Being an ancient angel had made the boy...
Whatever Izuku was at the moment.
And lead his boy to God, to Krishna.
"What we witnessed yesterday was his quirk in full display. Bakugou's explosion did kill him." The class shuddered, their eyes growing comically wide. "This activated his crisis mode, and in this mode, he instinctively took out the threat, removing its weapons without killing him. We've sent the video to experts in this field, and all agreed that Mido... Daksha Dwei, as he chose to be called after his rebirth, was to have the same immunity as principal Nedzu on the strength that Daksha was not in his base state."
The frog girl, Asui Tsuyu, raised her hand. "So, Dwei-san will maim whatever killed him in the first place, and we can't do anything about it."
All might nod. "Yes, and before you all clamor about Daksha's 'villainous' nature of his quirk, remember that all quirks have the potential to be used for good or evil; what separates heroes from villains is not the nature of their powers, but how they use them and why!"
After this declaration, All Might could see many different reactions, some heartening, some extremely worrying.
"Nevertheless, Dwei-san has been duly readmitted, and the principle will personally teach him how to manage his quirk. In the meantime, I will be your temporary replacement teacher for the week until the new ones arrive."
"Are they Gai-jin?" Kaminari San asked, and All Might grinned.
"Yes, indeed they are. Also, before any of us forget, you all are to write a ten-page essay about how to deal with quirkless individuals in a post-traumatic situation. If you were in my shoes when talking to Midotiya Izuku, what would you do differently? Now, without any further ado, let me reintroduce you to Dwei Daksha. Daksha, you may come in," he addressed the boy hidden behind the door.
The oversized door opened (still appreciated despite their unnerving nature.), admitting one Izuku Midoriya, now free from his disguise.
As he had told All Might, the reason he hid his identity like that was because he feared that Bakugou would retaliate harder. He had been right and wrong. But this had come to pass.
It felt good to see his freckled face, still pale but not unhealthy. His hair was somewhat tamer and oiled up (a vedic practice for healthy roots and less dandruff). His eyes were bright and clear, and the Vaishnava Tilaka shone on his uncreased forehead. Above his head floated a cheeky little halo, a part of his dad following him at school.
Beside him floated one of the Dark Matter spawns, most likely Rimuro, since Rimuru was still at the police station, revealing each and every secret that festered in Ms. Bakugou's heart.
But from the initial scan, as with what had happened to Inko, a victim in her own right,
'No, stay in the present and pray for the best; things will work out.' Toshinori snapped himself out; there was no need to spread his anxiety to his students; besides, it was bad for his fragile health.
Instead, he chose to focus on Daksha 'Deku' Dwei and the halo that hung above his head.
"Hello again, everyone. I used to be called Izuku and... Well, my name is Daksha now." The boy stuttered, his whole body tense and quiaking. "P-p-p-please take good care of me.
Despite being a natural hero and fearless on the battlefield, ten years of abuse and bullying would not be erased after a mere year.
Sensing his brother's stress, Rimuro took a more solid form and tucked himself in his arms.
"Ah…. um… And this is Rimuro, my adopted big brother... He's a dark matter, or a ghost covered in dark matter, you know, the stuff that makes over ninety-nine percent of all material manifestation."
Rimuro made a soft... cooing like noise.
"Right, he's a Hare Krishna like me, just... He's not human."
Ashido Mina raised her hand enthusiastically, and Tokoyami a bit less so. meaning that he was practically up on his desk, would he have Ashido-san's level of youthful energy?
"Is he an alien?" She asked without waiting for her turn.
"Ashido-san, next time, I will skip you if you speak without permission." Toshinori said it with a frown.
"To answer your question, Well, alien means weird or foreign. The thing is, he, his siblings, and their... well, my adopted dad, came from the higher planetary system; we were talking about the top of the universe, Satya-loka. But they belong to this universe, and they've all been staying on earth since the start of Kali-yuga, five thousand years ago. Dad told me they descended to Prabhasa-kshetram like two hundred years after Bhagavan-sri-Krishna and Baladeva left the material plane and returned to their home planet in the spiritual sky, outside of the material realm. But yeah, Dad got naturalized during the whole British invasion of India; his name is Actually 02, or Shunia-Dwei, in Sanskrit, so, since it sounded like Dei, that's my name now." Daksha rambled on, keeping his eyes firmly on his brother.
Another hand was raised by Kirishima this time. Who waited for his turn.
"You… Got adopted? You're not an E.T. now, are you?"
"Ah, no. I was born on earth, in Japan. I can't tell you from whom, since there are all these things the police have to investigate. But yeah, I started as a human, a quirkless teen who committed suicide, and my dad found me after my quirk kicked in. and thank Krishna, he did too."
The whole class oohed and aahed at Izuku's words.
"But... that's not the most amazing thing about my dad." Izuku said it with a mischievous smirk, a smirk hidden behind his dark matter sibling. "You see, my dad's so old; he met God personally and served him fortwenty years when he was staying in Jagannath Puri, in the Ghambira."
Needless to say, this declaration lit up the whole classroom, and All Might gave up on his lesson plans and instead let Izuku regale the whole class about Shuniya-hara', the personified decay that will one day destroy the universe, meeting God, the source of everything, and the service he had rendered to Sri-Krishna-Chaitania-Mahaprabhu, the Hidden Avatar of Kali-Yuga and the savior of the most fallen and degraded.
Also, if he had been starting his Japa up again, trying to reach his first completed round in his life, then it was no one's problem but him.
—-
"J'avais raison, j'Ai foutrement raison! Tu est vraimens un ange, Daksha!" Yuuga exclaimed over lunch as he hugged and embraced Daksha, preventing him from eating.
They were sitting outside, out in the forested area that bordered the campus. Izuku had wanted to distance himself from everyone after the last revelation.
It had been super stressful. But it was over; it was one less thing to weigh on him.
Instead, it was Aoyama. And boy, all that coughing made the forhanning blond heavier than expected.
Also, Daksha suspected that his quirk's side effect was more in line with someone having mild lactose intolerance, and considering the ungodly amount of cheap cheddar the French boy was eating...
More than half of the world's population was lactose intolerant; not even the cheeze-loving frech were spared the horror of diary poisoning.
Never the less, it would be interesting to observe Aoyama on those enzyme pills. But then again, lactase was harvested from baby cows. So maybe not...
Wait, where was he again?
Right, His friend (please let it be true.) was preventing Daksha from performing the most sacred of all sacred rituals of hsi day, a ritual that was available only due to Lakshmi and Maha-Maya's sweet, sweet mercy upon their fallen souls.
Honouring Prashadam. (Eating Krishna's left-overs.)
"Japanese, please. And can you please let me go? We don't have a super long lunch break."
"My apologies, Tres Chere," the sparkly, fabulous teen said as he finally released Daksha's Torso, but not his hand. It was his left hand, meaning that Daksha's right was still available for eating. Also, thank God he was a Hare Krishna, meaning that he could eat with his hands and nobody could stop him. "I was just... Oh, Seigneur, I thought this Bakugou had killed you on your first day of school... I know the reality of being a hero and how our lives are now shorter than most. but I/" he began to sob. "I didn't expect it to happen so soon to my first friend."
Daksha stared at the blonde. "You… You think of me as a friend?" Daksha asked, completely bewildered by the confession. (But not so much that he'd dropped his fried potato wheel.)
"My first and only friend..." the French boy admitted, his aura dimming as he probably remembered a friendless childhood.
"You… and I… Vee are… Qu"
But before Yuuga could finish his tough, something that sounded like something pretty heavy and life-changing, Tokoyami walked in on them and bowed down to Daksha.
"Eh?"
"Oh son of the master of matter most dark, relisher of the mad banquet of darkness, he whose kin are shadows most dark, walker of-"
At this very precise moment, as Daksha sat beside the kindest, brightest teen in school and was worshiped by the evanescence mascot, he understood what his father felt when he called him God.
But, unlike his father, the saintly and more humble than a blade of grass, Shuniya-Hara Das, Daksha lacked humility.
Instead, he felt awkward, confused, and honestly terrified.
But also, he understood his dad now... and Mandodari.
Being worshiped and knowing one's actual position as a servant of a servant a thousand times removed was...
Well, to say that it wasn't enjoyable would be a lie, but it was like enjoying poison.
But then, he'd remember his counselor (yes, his dad set his son up with a counselor on top of rewiring his brain; Shuniya wanted his son as sane as possible, after all). and his counselor had trained him to accept the praise while remembering to whom those praises belong.
Still… Ok, so Krishna was dark; his name meant black and blackish-blue, but... He was the source of all light, first and foremost.
So, to say that Tokoyami put the revived young man in an awkward position was a rather heavy understatement.
"Please, oh Avatar of the shadows most dark, please, destroy my enemies; render them away from their mortal coils."
Daksha blinked, unable to process what the bird-headed teen was saying, except for the killing part.
"You... want me to kill someone?!" He exclaimed, feeling a tad faint.
Dark Shaddow then emerged from Tokoyami's shirt. "Yeah! There's some pretty awful"
"Hush, let me speak to our Lord, your crazy bird." The bird-headed teen hisses as he somehow manages to drag his quirk (Must Analyze later!) under his shirt.
Now... how to deal with this?
Spazzing out would be a huge waste of energy, and it would make the revived teen look like a fool on his third day of school.
Wisdom it is, then.
'Muro-chan, can you check what he wants? I didn't get a single word he said, except the whole killing someone deal.'
'On it, Bayah... Hmm, it seems our descendant of Garuda's having some problems with some fanatic evangelists.'
'Oh hell, naw.'
'My thought exactly was that this particular group had been against anything that wasn't worshiping Yeshua as God, which is something absolutely wrong. Acharia is an eternally liberated soul empowered by Bhagavan to liberate the mass of souls still imprisoned in this filthy world of matter, to see them and The supreme and absolute trust ranges from impersonal to downright narcissistic, with a side of god-delusion. Ieshua- Prabhu doesn't even spare them a thought; his anger towards them is so high. And please don't let me get started on-'
"Ouch." Daksha mentally winced, both at the intensity with which Tokoyami's head met the grass and at Rimuro's renting about his Darling Joe and how his modern so-called worshipers did the messiah dirty.
'What can I say? The people of this most fallen age have no desire for true surrender. They all want the power, fame, name, wealth, and reputation of following an acharia without doing any austerities or penance. Or if they do their austerities, it is either for clout... or not following any guidelines.'
"Hmm... so, any clues on how to deal with this one?" Daksha asked his brother, hoping to move away from this particular subject.
"Go to All Might and tell him what happened... Hmm, well, it may be more difficult than imagined since our bird-brained friend is of the belief that All Might won't bother for a mutant."
'Bro, All Might was all about pushing for more heteromorph heroes for the last gala. He was praising Wash and Gang Orca. but not Hawks, strangely enough.'
"Hawk-san is a bit too... sanitized for his taste, he wants the mutant to be represented not by a pretty boy but by one of them. Not even Spinner likes him, calling him a fake."
Daksha was about to argue back that there was nothing fake about Hawk (except his PR face, the worst in the industry.) when the UA intruder alarm blared to life, startling the Star warrior back to his feet after his lunch was practically inhaled.
Yes, having his genetic gift awakened was great. Thank you very much. Not that it was considered a quirk since Kirby, as a base, didn't have anything'special' other than the ability to never choke on food. Which was not considered big enough to be considered a quirk.
Nevertheless, all three students (plus a ghost) were up and alert.
But…
Something felt wrong.
"We're not in danger." Daksha mumbled.
"Quoi?"
"I said we were not in danger; I don't feel... My warrior's instincts are not triggering."
"So what is the cause for this revelry in the dark?" Tokoyami asked, having divested himself of his dark worshiper tendencies.
"Daylight... but I guess the reporters somehow managed to get it. They were awfully blood thirsty, even forgetting the big fat law about interviewing minors and being on school ground since everybody knows the unwritten rule that the school ground starts in the street in front of the gate," Izuku said as he unhunched himself.
And suddenly,he felt it.
He warning.
It was barely a moment, but...
Izuku huffed out. This didn't bode well.
—-
"Hare Krishna, dad!" Izuku called as he and Rimuru entered Shuniya's flat, taking his high tops off and putting on the house slippers. "Tadaima!"
""Haribol and welcome home; I'm in the kitchen." Shuniya replied, having taken his true form.
As Shuniya had said, wearing his human look was akin to wearing a bra, a corset, and thigh shoes. And at the end of the day, the only thing you wanted was to throw all of those items off and veg on the couch in whatever old t-shirt you had, pants optional.
Daksha smiled as he joined his dad.
Perhaps it had been too quick, but Izuku had long longed for a male presence at home, one who would understand what it meant to be a teenager, soon to be a man.
Looking back, this was the reason why he'd become obsessed with All Might.
Well, more obsessed.
And it wasn't like, ok, so his appreciation for the number one hero had waned ever since his juicy landing.
But, with how Toshinori acted, Izuku may take up his dad's offer to recover whatever collectibles he can.
Nevertheless, Shuniya was great; he was present; he was stoic without being cold as a stone. He would wrestle with Izuku, teach him how to fight, and, while still being humble and meek, not be a fucking carpet all the time.
It was a touchy thing to balance, and Izuku was still learning. As Shnuiya-hara had told him, 'I'm still learning myself, but one can only get true humility when your love for God reawakens. It will come; don't worry.' His father had assured him one night, after reading about how Krishna had left the Gopis in the middle of the Rasa-lila due to their pride in their good fortune.
... not that this was the real story, but his dad told Daksha that he would come to know the true reason when he was ready.
Nice but…
"Daku, what happened?" Shuniya asks, whipping his bloodborne hands on a towel, his one red eye filled with concern. "You look unharmed, but... you are not happy."
Daksha sat down at the dinner table, leaving his bag on the floor as he crossed his arms and forlornly plonked his head on them. "We got an alarm at school."
"A fire drill?"
"Nah, just a bunch of journalists getting in and mobbing the place... What was up with that anyway? All Might may be at school, but he's not exactly hard to reach! So why the whole mob mentality? And I thought those journalists had to learn about it in a special school or something; isn't blocking out a main entrance to a private property illegal?"
"Yes, it is." Shuniya confirms, gliding to his son's side and placing a tray of food beside him. "But, as you know, The police officers would rather not get in the way of rabid reporters."
"Wimps."
"Yes, I know... but the stars have shown a great flood happening soon, so perhaps this will come to change."
Daksha grunted as he looked at the plate of sacred Prasadam. He was hungry, but his anxiety cut off his desire to eat.
"Something else happened." The Eldritch angel said as he lowered himself to his Zabuton. "You felt something."
"Someone destabilized the protective wall around UA; they decayed it, which was why the media mob got in."
Shuiya-hara hummed.
"When it did, me and my Me, Yuuga, and Tokoyami-san, we were ready to fight, but it was nothing, just the reporters having breached the gate and rushing in."
Shuniya Hara, who had'sat' in front of his son on his favorite zabuton (it had a backrest), deflated. "Oh, thank Krishna."
"...But"
"But." The angel asked, concern once more filling his voice and his one red eye.
"I felt something... I don't know; I can't say it was... evil just... Daksha groaned as he buried his face in his hands, dragging them down as he tried to put a word for it.
Yes, it felt evil, but there was something more to it. It was dangerous, but not immediately.
"Dad… I have a bad feeling about this."
"Just keep chanting and praying. There's not much I can do, unless whatever happens puts Prabhupada's mission in Japan in jeopardy and the Lord's sanctions my actions."
"But why!" Izuku exclaimed. "Why does he let bad things happen? So many innocents are hurt and die in vile attacks and natural disasters; why does Krishna let it happen if He's all good?" Realizing what he'd just yelled at his dad, Daksha was quick to cover his mouth.
But, instead of a wrathful angel aggressively waxing poetically about how God was all good, Shunia-hara gained a happy glint in his rubicund eyes.
"Oh, Krishna is all good, son. He truly is. But He won't interfere with our karma unless we go to Him in a humble mood." Shuniya explained it patiently. "Christians call Krishna the Father. Well, fathers and mothers, of course, who do everything for their children, preventing them from suffering, are either seen as helicopter parents or as lazy and entitled brats."
"Oh," that made sense.
"And it's not like Bhagava wants us to suffer, Daku. He loves us all, and he wants us all back. But it's not an easy journey, and many need impetus to realize that no, this place filled with unending miseries is not where we belong." He explained. "Goloka is free from all miseries and filled with pure variety."
"It still sounds too good to be tough." Izuku mumbled as he began fiddling with the tulasi left on top of his carobe cookies."
"I understand, Daksha. I truly do. In this world, all conditioned souls have lied and are lied too about so-called paradise. They are not wrong to be leary, for this is Kali-yuga, and demons will lie if it means they will get a bit more 'wealth' to their temporary name." Shunia-hara chudkled as he pressed his hands on his son's shoulder, giving him grounding comfort.
Daksha blew air out as he averted his gaze.
"It's alright, son. Divine knowledge is not that easy to get; you can read and hear all you want, but only when Paramatma allows it will this knowledge be realized."
"..."
"Even I have yet to realize everything, and I am eons old." Shuniya-Hara Das admitted it humbly. "Now, eat your snacks and start your homework. With what I saw from your... homeroom 'teacher', it's the only worthwhile thing you will learn from him."
"Dad, all might's our teacher now, at least until the new teacher arrives." Daksha grumbled on behalf of Yagi-san, who had given them some rather interesting things to study.
"Not that learning heroism is that hard." He grumbled. "I only need to know the whole Japanese legal system; plain old heroism is better explained in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana anyway."
Shuiya chuckles at his son. "That indeed, Daku. That indeed," he said with pure fondness.
—-
This had been the last highlight of the week. If you didn't count his budding friendship with Yuuga-san and... Tokoyami being a stalker and...
Seriously, the bird-headed (not brain, but it was a near thing) teen would follow Daksha wherever he had free time, looking at him and Rimuru like a lovesick girl.
Even going as far as to leave dark presents in Daksha's shoe locker... meaning plenty of bones, dead things, vials of blood, and other things that had caused the teen to spiral down in another PTSD attack.
When he'd told this to his father, Shuniya-hara tried to be supportive and to give shelter to his son, but... It was hard when you could do nothing to laugh at the whole situation.
Perfect parent, Shunia wasn't... But he'd still had a word with Tokoyami about how worshiping the devil and being an edgy teen looking to disturb would get him into trouble, but that if he was willing to give up playing Satanism and please the Lords of Hell by serving their master, the universal-sized lord, then yes, Shuniya would personally drive him to school on his bike since the Tokoyami family lived nearby.
And this was how Daksha got his second friend.
Also, Apparently Aunt Mitsuki had been dealing with something—something and someone illegal—and had lost the right to Katsuki and her own body, and there was also something going on that required Midoriya Inko to be hospitalized.
She and Mitsuki... had almost laughed themselves to death. Mistuki had embraced the lack of oxygen while Inko Inko begged for help with tears in her eyes.
But as far as Daksha cared, he had nothing to do with the two nasty women and would only raise a finger if need be.
And so far, there has been no need.
Oh, and despite going to school, he still had a surprising amount of clients for his hug therapy session—not quite booked, but not free enough to have a full day of doing whatever.
One of his clients, a woman hiding her identity, had clearly been with the police, making sure this wasn't prostitution, or worse. After Daksha had assured her and shown her around that she had spoken with his dad, Miss Rezzy happily cuddled with Daksha, opening up about how her job sucked. Yes, it felt good to take a moment to feel the love.
She gave him a hearty tip that Daksha converted to Bhagavad-Gita, Sri-Isopanisada, and the Science of Self-Realization (she took them all!). Daksha's plan was working! Jaya haribol!) and left after leaving her contact number for the Son of Shuniya.
Daksha had realized that those who came to him not only needed a physical shoulder to cry on but a virtual one too. Thus, he'd started a Discord server with Rimura since he was his only other sibling with free time and Rimuro hated possessing electronics.
Fair, and Rimuro had to take care of Daksha, something that, if Midoriya-san was to be believed, was a tiring job, a thankless task.
But hey, it gave the ghostly being something to do, and Rimuro never complained, unlike Inko.
Nevertheless, Daksha's new life was as close to perfect as it would ever be. He had a spiritual life; All Might was his friend. (They'd even exchanged phone numbers and everything!) He had an amazing dad, a pair of pro-hero uncles, and an autistic mentor; he was going to Hero School, stood up to his bully, and now had a budding business to save people from loneliness!
It was so easy to forget that the stars were warning of some awfully troubled times ahead.
—-
"Say, Kero." Tsuyu, another potential friend, asked on the way to the USJ to get their first taste of rescue missions, something the son of Shuniya-Hara was looking forward to.
With his now respectfully blooming hug business, learning a bit more than the basics of first aid would be a boon for him.
Nevertheless, Asui-san spoke to him.
"Yes, Asui-san?"
"Call me Tsu, Kero."
"Alright, Tsu." That was quick.
"I was wondering why you are so close to All Might, Kero." The cute frog girl asked.
"He told you in class, and yeah, I forgave him, and he's now a friend; my dad also likes him.'' And indeed, Shuniya-Hara's appreciation of the repentant man was clear, and Toshinori also saw the angel as something closer than a mere acquaintance.
Sometime, Daksha wondered if this whole thing wasn't just a dying dream—what with the bloodied angel being his adopted dad, his ghostly siblings, and All might dropping over after school three times in the past week to shoot the wind with Shuniya-hara das? And talk about the holy teaching and Shuniya's experience as a direct servant of Sri-Krishna-Chaitnaia-Mahaprabhu, God in his full, all-merciful splendor.
The stories shared over a meal... Who would've thought the supreme personality of Godhead to be so human and yet not?
It was inconceivable.
"Hmm, you're lucky then." Tsu said.
"Yeah, after what he did to poor Bakubro, surprised All Might didn't throw his ass in Tartarus. "Where the villain belongs.' was the implied end by one rather angry Kirishima-san.
For some unfathomable reason (Lust, most likely.), the hard-skinned boy had... latched onto Kacchan like a limpet, trying to cheer him up despite his enforced house arrest.
Rumors were that the class sunshine was enabling Bakugou's old mentality as he tried to cheer him up. He let the toxic behavior feed and fester, thinking it was the manliest thing he could do for his fellow bro.
That was until Ectoplasm (his legal name was not to be known unless an NDA was signed; Mister Ectoplasm was all about hero anonymity, and Daksha was all in for it). banned the hot-blooded idiot out of his flat, for it was where Bakugou was recovering from his self-afflicted ordeal.
He was apparently depressed, and understandably so. And while Izuku felt bad, it was more like how Arjuna felt bad over the killing of his demonic relatives.
It was sad in general, but it had been a necessary evil, and now Bakugou had another chance to get his life right.
And he didn't need another Alpha male enabler to ruin his second chance.
Daksha shrugged, being used to worse slights.
Kirishima got up, probably to start spouting manly hate—not that Daksha cared, since his noise-canceling headphones were blocking his rant perfectly. He was currently listening to the fourth canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the story of the evil king Veena. And man, wasn't he a piece of work?
Daksha grinned; he would have to ask his dad about the whole pastime. Shuniya was... Old, like he was born when the universe was still young and Brahma-ji was still figuring out how to increase the population of the universe, the fallen angel had actually seen the birth of many personalities. Perhaps even Vaishnavata Manu and his wife, the first humans, Adam and Eve.
Suddenly, his smartphone beeped; it was All Might.
Sorry, shonen, you got held up; prb won't make it ?:
"Ah heck." Daksha swore under his breath that if All Might contacted him, then it meant that... Aizawa had turned his phone off, and knowing the abysmal work ethic of the alleged underground hero, he'd also ignored Nedzu's message and would only check after the class was over, giving him all the opportunity in the world to trow dirt all over All Might's virtus (yes, Virtus, that's what Shuniya had called them.), turning him into a joke just because he was hyper popular with everyone.
Dad had explained that whatever fame a conditioned soul received was also due to karma, but that, in the end, fame and infamy were temporary, and even if one was famous or infamous post-death, the implicated party wouldn't even remember his fame.
It was a rather sobering thought, another reminder that nothing in this world lasted forever. Not even Brahma was immortal, and his life span was the same as the universe.
The bus came to a stop. Aizawa woke up five minutes later to some very angsty teenagers and somehow managed to pin the blame on Daksha, who took it with grace, for he was an aspiring Vaishnava, and Vaishnavas were known for their ridiculous tolerance, save for when the Lord was blasphemed, what to say when their Gurus and other Vaishnava were thrown shades on?
But seriously, if he kept going the way he did, then Daksha would start researching his legal rights as a UA student and complain about them to All Might.
When All Might would have some free time again, that is.
"Alright, hell class, get out the bus, calm and quiet, any unnecessary talking to you 'friends' and you're out of the program, am I clear?
"Yes sir." Daksha said under his breath, not looking forward to the next few hours.
Any fun and important things he would learn from Thirteen about being a rescue officer would most likely be spoiled by Mister Happy-Sunshine and scared of being 'illogical' and a 'waste of time, heroes stopped villains, that's it.'
For Krishna's sake, Uraraka-san and Koji-san were the best rescue heroes, as were Tsu. but it was clear Aizawa had other plans. Hell, he barely spoke about heroic options, only about limelight heroes, and nothing about being underground.
In Daksha's heart, he could feel a supersoul warning him that something was mighty fishy with the selfish man. There were so many things about him that felt wrong, as if his body wasn't really his. and he smelled. He had this smell that reminded Daksha of something, like rotten meat, but not from any meat one could buy from the store.
But… Daksha was just a student, and while Aizawa was super sus, Daksha knew he could not act rashly.
It would not end well, not without backup anyway.
Nevertheless, Daksha could also be wrong, and his bad feeling about his homeroom teacher was probably him being vengeful, not something a Vaishnava should dwell on.
Nevertheless, Daksha had but a few hours to learn about rescues and first aid, and it wasn't a jackass teacher who would ruin that.
—-
Back with All Might, the super-powered man had a day worthy of being yanked out of his ass.
First, his water heater broke, so he had to take a freezing cold shower, seizing his lungs and causing him to spit out a worrying amount of blood afterward. Then he realized that his milk had gone sour, thus ruining his breakfast. Then he had to fool a rather persistent paparazzi who'd somehow managed to track down his movement. This one was a rather popular venom spewer online, as well as a liability to all heroes, for they tended to spill the beans about private information a tad too easily.
Most heroes chose to have guards and private investigators to get rid of the pest, but for Toshinori, this would be a bright target on his back.
So yes, he had to deal with her with a fat wad of cash and resort to threats (no, he was not above that). Then he stepped in dog poop and only realized it when he was on his daily commute to UA. And only because of the pointed glares of the rest of his commuter colleagues.
And then his train got attacked by a long-armed villain with crazy eyes.
Usually, Toshinori would take notes on the villains (and fans) to report back to Daksa.
He had grown rather fond of the boy for the past few weeks. Daksha was heroic, with very little of the pride most heroes were known for. He was inquisitive, funny, and terrifyingly smart for his age. Shuniya-hara had told him that, with age, Izu... Daksha's intelligence would become average in most places, save for quirks and, recently, sacred Bhakti texts.
This was spoken like the proud father he was, something that was, and still is, surprisingly human for the planet eater.
So yes, Toshinori would indulge the young miracle boy with his tale of heroism and what tried to take a piece of might back home.
But today…
He had… A Day (™). One fucking day...
He wanted to keep his precious time in check; he'd even chosen to take the touted 'royal road'. The one collection of street villains and heroes left alone in an unwritten agreement.
So, of course, this one Asshole decided to break the agreement just to put himself at the head of the pack of villains, not knowing that he'd now had a 'kill me now slowly' on his back for all the other villains to see.
All Might sighed, knowing that he also had to run all the way to UA again in his empowered mode, hoping not to be too late and that Aizawa wouldn't stir too much mud in the water. The man was only kept while they waited for the new teachers to arrive on earth. ( ., a trio of . talk about one hell of a manga-type situation.) but knowing the petty mystery...
'And I have a prostate exam after all that, FML.' and forget about listening to Doyal-ji Prabhu read the Krishna book. Toshinori had a full schedule today, meaning that he would finally have time for himself at nine at night.
'At least Izuku's going to have a pretty normal day at school.'
—-
'`Oh Krishna, who did I hurt, and what demi-gods have I offended to suffer through this?' Daksha asked himself as he was flung out toward the middle of the USJ via an explosion.
To those who know the manga, I don't need to explain what happened. The rescue training class was hijacked by villains headed by Shigaraki. Kurogiri separated everyone while the L33t speaker summoned a Nomu (whatever the hell it was.) to kill Aizawa as they waited for All Might.
The blue-haired adult, whose costume was both the saddest and least inspired of them all (and he'd seen the girls outfits), wanted to kill All Might.
Like, he was certainly a baby villain; all baby villains wanted to kill All Might until they realized that the only reason they even had a fighting chance was because All Might kept all the real dangerous ones in check.
Really, he was a baby villain, and nothing would prove Izuku wrong; even his breakdown was a temper tantrum.
Baby, big baby.
And then the baby villain, Shigaraki Tomura, summoned a nomu.
A no-brain, mindless zombie thing with its brain exposed.
It was one hell of a weak point, and Izuku, despite disliking Aizawa, was still teaching? He was supposed to be on his way out. Oh well, Madhan-mohandas, Dhara Dhara das, and Chippu-san were supposed to arrive the next day. He'd hoped the underground hero's touted skills for observation and tactic would shine through, giving Daksha a chance to glorify the man and have some good impression once he was gone.
But no, the guy, instead of sacrificing one of his knives, knives strong and sharp enough to cut his self-healing capture scarf and embed the piece of metal in the beast's brain, had instead opted to take Nomu down Mano a Mano.
After he'd fought with hordes of villains,.
This had just happened, just as he, Mineta, and Tsu had landed in the central part of the USJ, where the action was at its spiciest. Just in time to see Shigaraki enter the fray and decay Aizawa's left elbow, Shigaraki either had a touch-based acid quirk like Ashido‐san or a five-point decaying quirk. And from what he could observe, Daksha leaned toward the latter.
Suddenly, Aizawa was grabbed by the brainless (oh, the irony) murder machine and was smashed over and over on the unforgiving concrete.
"Ok… I have enough." Daksha suddenly declared as he unmounted his bo staff from his back, his rainbow sword unavailable until he got his Hero license and got the go-ahead to use lethal force. "Haribol!" Daksha shouted as he brought his visors down. Waving at the villain.
"What! And what does that mean, Haribol!?" The blue-haired baby villain shot back.
"I mean, chant the names of God, Hari, because I'm your opponent." Daksha declared, belatedly realizing how cringeworthy the whole thing was.
And indeed, this absolute cringiest declaration of war ever caused the hand-covered young man to double over, guffawing as if he wasn't in the middle of the battlefield. Daksha wondered if UA had a course on pre-battle one-liners or something like that; Krishna knew he needed it.
Now, most heroes would take this opportunity to take a free shot, but Daksha wasn't a mere hero; he was Kshatriya, the student of the Dhanur Veda, the ancient art of war. And one of the rules was that one should not aim at his opponent when he is unable to fight back.
Of course, if one of the many rules were broken, then all bets were off.
"Oh, oh God."
"Krishna-Hari."
"I haven't laughed so hard since this one visual glitch happened on patch 4.8... Oh, boy. And look! You missed an opportunity to attack. Dude, you're so not savvy, like all other heroes." The blue-haired one's mood did a one-eighty, and he began to dig in his throat, causing blood to spurt out at a worrying speed.
Daksha's eyebrow ticked up. 'So much for keeping up with the Kshatriya Dharma' the teen thought. Why, oh, why was it so hard to do the Cool Things (™)? "If this is how you want it," Daksha grumbled as he took his bo-staff out. "Then Tata tsu. So be it," and rushed to land a powerful blow on the back of Shigaraki's head. Or this would've been the plan, if not for Tsu to inexplicably get in the way of Daksha's strike.
Oh no…
Daksha barely had the time to pull the dumb frog away from Shigaraki, only to feel his flesh decay as Shigaraki struck his stomach.
"H̸̷̢̧̛̟̜͔̰͖̦̥͔̪̠̞̍ͮ̽̆ͭ̾̈̐ͮ͟͝͝͝Ĩ̴̡̠̮̪͉̻̲̤̟͍̮̯̘̮̱͌͛͒͒̔̀͐ͭ̋͆̊̄͂̈ͯͅR̷̵̴̯̫͕̲̼̜̟̲͎̗̀͑͛̑̓́͊̑́̄̈́͒͐ͭͪͪ̂̑̾̕̚͢R̢͇͖̙̪̼͕̓̾ͥ͘̕Ŕ̛̟̜̼̰͛ͨ͛ͧ̕͜͝_̢̟̟ͪ͜R̢̛͈̤͑R̴̹̖̙͉̹̤̙̖̯͌̑͂ͨ͑ͬ̏͗ͧ͘͢͟͞ͅƠ̸̷̶̷̢̗̼͔̼̻̪͍͔̲̺̩͇̏́̉͑̈́̽ͥ̿͒̋͂ͧͮ̆ͦ͌͒̋̅͘̕͜͞H̵̸̢̡̛̫̪̦̞̙̫̩̤̗͙̖̹̹̼̯̤̱̞͇͍̯ͪ̓ͦͮ̊̄̐ͪͦ̆ͧͨͧ̽ͫ͌ͣ͡AÀ͆A_͙͙̱̩̘́̈́̔Á̺̱A̴̵̪̹͍̰̎͌̓ͤ͗͆ͬ̍̒͘A̷̶̴̧͚̘̲̙̙͎͇͍̎ͤ̌̐̏ͪ̊̀͂̍̎ͨ̿͒͋̚͜͟͝ͅ"
Daksha screeched…. And Void Termina answered.